Photo: Screenshot of website

Taiwan-born actress and TV host, Fang Fang, posted her brand-new mainland ID card on Christmas Eve in the short video platform Douyin, receiving a warm welcome from mainland netizens on social media despite some Taiwan-based secessionist media's "sour" comments.

Fang, whose real name is Zhou Zheng-fang, opened her Douyin account in November and told followers she had been living in mainland for the past one and a half years. She also shared her daily life with her followers, saying she came to the mainland very early and invested in Shanghai in 2003. 

Back then, Fang Fang lived a cross-Striats life, living in the Chinese mainland while shooting TV dramas in the island of Taiwan but she recently settled down in the mainland. She became a popular figure in the mainland with her Taiwan-produced TV dramas, and her roles the theater stage. 

Fang Fang told followers on December 20 she applied for the mainland ID card in late November. The card is a certificate that is convenient for people from Taiwan to study, work and live in the mainland. 

In the video, the actress appeared excited. "I did not expect it to be so easy and the process so convenient. You only need to bring your Taiwan Compatriot Permit, residential permit and a certificate of property or rental contract, and come to take a photo. The process takes less than 10 minutes," Fang Fang said in the video. 

She received her mainland ID Christmas eve and shared the good news online.

Some Taiwan-based secessionist media noticed the news and claimed the ID card is a residential permit, not a registration of household, or hukou. 

Wang Hao-yu, member of the Democratic Progressive Party, said island authorities should cancel Fang Fang's health insurance and other accounts on Facebook. 

But those mean comments cannot dampen the enthusiasm of netizens from the mainland to welcome her settling down. They expressed their love for the roles she played and wished her a happy life in the prosperous mainland.
 
Not long ago, Taiwan-born singer Qian Baihui (stage name) also shared her mainland ID, making a splash on social media after settling down in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. 

Though some Taiwan celebrities attacked her, the singer said in an interview with the Global Times that those are only noises made by "flies and mosquitoes." 

"No matter where I am, the motherland is the strongest support. I am proud of it," Qian Baihui said in a social media post. 

The singer married a mainland composer in 1990s and felt the connection across the Straits through the same language, characters and traditional festivals. Qian Baihui also told the Global Times that music is pure and she hopes to promote cross-Straits exchanges via music and encourage youth of both sides to increase communications.

"In Beijing, Xiamen and Chengdu, I witnessed motherland's development in the past 30 years and many Taiwan residents look forward to the reunification, just like I do," the singer said.